Now Bob Ryan is piling on BB... - Page 11 - New England Patriots Forums

sieglo · 05-19-2008, 08:41 AM

Comparing this to Watergate is just completely idiotic. What Belichick did he did in plain sight. If he was seriously trying to be sneaky, do you think he would have been openly taping in front of 60,000 people in Giants Stadium?

PatriotsReign · 05-19-2008, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RhodyPatriot

Disagree GJA. Personal agendas posing as "journalism" always need to be responded to. The emails sent to Ryan that have been posted here have been far more well reasoned, articulate and fact based than anything the mediots have written on the subject.
From day 1 Spygate has ALWAYS been about the sinner and not the sin with the mediots..
They always need to be responded to by the public when they're on their personal mission to destroy someone simply because he refuses to repent for his football sins in front of the drunks, pedophiles, bigots and wife beaters/cheater who make up the congregation at the church of St. Media.

PS - Read with great amusement this morning how Pompous Peter: King of the Mediots has been reduced to Trent Dilfer as his source for commentary. Trent Dilfer?? Trent Dilfer??
Pompous Peter: King of the Mediots still isn't getting his Foxborough calls returned I see.

I love the line about this being about the sinner & not the sin! That perfectly describes what the media has made this.

If anyone gets a reply from St Robert, please post here.

Pats726 · 05-19-2008, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sieglo

Comparing this to Watergate is just completely idiotic. What Belichick did he did in plain sight. If he was seriously trying to be sneaky, do you think he would have been openly taping in front of 60,000 people in Giants Stadium?

Don't let the facts get in the way of a terrible analogy...Ryan is in fantasyland on this one..

PatsFan37 · 05-19-2008, 10:16 AM

Garbanza, you make some pretty good points. This is where the average fan is deluded -- not in thinking their sports team consists of heroes, but in thinking the sports journalists' first love is sports.

Journalism is their true sport and the locker room is their playing field. A scoop is a TD. If they cheat to score and they're caught, their fellow writers show loyalty first to the guild, trashing the team as necessary.

Not all are like that, of course. Reiss and Holley and Dale Arnold seem to have their heads together (or they're careful to know who butters their bread).

In the end, the fans are the arbiters of both teams and journalists. We pay for their services. As to who you should trust, think about this -- which of teams or journalists show the most respect for the fans?

Do you hear Kraft or Belichick disparaging the fans? To the contrary. The worst I've heard is Seymour complaining (and rightfully so) that the fans aren't loud enough. He and Bruschi and Brady and Harrison play for those middle-aged jersey-wearing yahoos and suckups. They have patience for us and it shows. When Kraft holds a trophy above his head, who does he thank first? That's right.

While he thanks the fans, the journalists can barely hide their disdain.

oldskool138 · 05-19-2008, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatsFan37

When Kraft holds a trophy above his head, who does he thank first? That's right.

While he thanks the fans, the journalists can barely hide their disdain.

Allow me to play devil's advocate:

Name me an owner who's thanked the media before the players, fans, and season ticket holders after winning a championship...Hell, name me an owner who's thanked the media at all.

PatsFan37 · 05-19-2008, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldskool138

Allow me to play devil's advocate:

Name me an owner who's thanked the media before the players, fans, and season ticket holders after winning a championship...Hell, name me an owner who's thanked the media at all.

I think you missed the point. This isn't about whether Kraft respects the media. I don't care if he does. As a fan, I'd like to know who respects me. Clearly, the team at least pays lip service. The media doesn't even do that.

oldskool138 · 05-19-2008, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatsFan37

I think you missed the point. This isn't about whether Kraft respects the media. I don't care if he does. As a fan, I'd like to know who respects me. Clearly, the team at least pays lip service. The media doesn't even do that.

Well, all teams pay lip-service to the fans. Hell, most sports news outlets in other markets pay lip-service to the fans.

It's a culture of hatred born out of years of the Sox, Pats, Bruins and to a lesser extent Celtics sucking it up big-time. The sports culture has changed but the media hasn't.

But back to the original point...no owner is going to thank the media when they win a championship...except for Wyc Grossbeck since EEI gave his team all kinds of free coverage even when they were beyond horrible.

godef · 05-19-2008, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GJAJ15

Never read much of him, but thought he was considered the dean of sportswriters in the Boston Area.. without regard, just another lemming piling on BB.. it seems as though the Globe has gotten favorable publicity with the Reiss stuff, but now wants to be cast in the negative limelight.. maybe he is jealous of Maserotti..

http://www.boston.com/sports/footbal...ost_revealing/

Here is what Bill Belichick has done: He has placed Patriots fans on the defensive for the rest of their lives.

more stories like this
Patriots' Belichick says Walsh isn't credible
Patriots' Belichick fires back at Walsh
Walsh talks about Belichick in HBO interview
Sen. Specter wants independent investigation into Spygate
Walsh talks about Spygate, Belichick in HBO interview
He has been exposed as being monumentally disingenuous at best and utterly duplicitous at worst. There can no longer be any doubt that he engaged in a practice he knew was against the rules.

The big question we cannot answer is how important it all was, really. Did his illegal practice of taping opponents' defensive signals aid his team's chances of victory in certain games by 20 percent? Ten percent? Three percent? One-10th of 1 percent? Not at all? No one will ever know....

There is no way out. As long as Bill Belichick is the coach of the New England Patriots, America will despise this team. But a resignation or a dismissal would only lend legitimacy to the entire concept of wrongdoing.

Actually, beyond one statement from the column ("He alone of the 32 coaches was confused."... I would replace "confused" with "caught"), I don't see that any of the rest of the column is out of line. Obviously we don't share his opinion, but I can respect Ryan for not going off into any Belichick-should-be-suspended-for-life rants. This column is nothing if not compelling reading.

upstater1 · 05-19-2008, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by godef

Actually, beyond one statement from the column ("He alone of the 32 coaches was confused."... I would replace "confused" with "caught"), I don't see that any of the rest of the column is out of line. Obviously we don't share his opinion, but I can respect Ryan for not going off into any Belichick-should-be-suspended-for-life rants. This column is nothing if not compelling reading.

I thought the column was crazy because he compared the cover-up to Watergate.

What cover-up?

The Patriots gave all tapes over, they addressed the uses of those tapes, and the Matt Walsh story was completely in line with how they used the tapes. The Patriots didn't try to cover-up anything. They completely complied with the commissioner from day 1. How could Ryan compare it to Watergate? Silly.

What MORE could the Patriots have done?

***KontradictioN*** · 05-19-2008, 11:49 AM

Oh please. Bob Ryan is on Around the Horn sometimes and, if you can't tell by his columns that he's nothing more than a loudmouth blubbering idiot, you can tell by watching the show. Just based on what he does on that show, I would not waste my time reading his columns. This guy used to openly bash BB and the Pats even before Spygate. One things for sure: the guy is so old that we won't have to worry about reading his columns much longer.